Fireproof flooring and ceiling



(No Model.) F. B: ABBOTT.

PIREPROOF FLOORING AND CEILING. V No. 576,770. Patented Feb. 9. 1897.

iizyefl flay/A5 520 22.

Nara STATES ATENT FFICEo FIREPROOF FLOORING AND CEILING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,770, dated February 9, 1897.

Application filed M y 19, 1896. Serial No, 592,117. (No model.)

Be it known that I, FRANK B. ABBOTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Fireproof Flooring and Ceilings for Buildings, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, economical, and efficient means for flreproofing the girders and beams and ceilings and floors of all kinds of buildings; and the invention consists in the features, combinations, and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional elevation of a portion of a ceiling and floor embodying my improvements; Fig. 2, a skeleton plan view of the supporting mechanism, looking at it from the top; Fig. 3, a perspective view of a portion of one of the supporting I-beams; Fig. 4, a perspective View of my preferred form of clip; Fig. 5, a perspective view of a modified form of clip; Fig. 6, a side elevation of a second modified form of clipviz., an adjustable clip; and Fig. 7, a transverse section taken through line 7 of Fig. 2, showing the means for holding the concrete portion of my improvements in place.

In illustrating and describing my improvement I will only show and describe such portions of a building or the structural members thereof as are necessary to disclose my invention and enable those skilled in the art to practice the same, leaving out of the drawings and descriptions such portions as are well known, and which, if described and illustrated here, would only tendto proliXity and confusion or render ambiguous my improvements or invention.

In the art to which this invention relates the most general form of flreprooflng the structural members of the floor and ceiling portion of the structure is to provide a hollow tiling that has been molded into shape, and form an arch or false structure which is afterward removed when the key-piece of the tiling is put in position. The objections to this method are that it involves a large amount of expense, time, and labor; the weight of the entire structure is considerable, in fact excessive; and the danger of rupture of the parts during a fire, when water strikes the same, is considerable, in that the tiling is of a frangible nature and rapidly disintegrates under the influence of heat and water.

oughly fireproof the structural members of v the floors.

In constructing a ceiling and floor in accordance with my improvements I provide a set or series of metallic I-beams A, which are arranged in the desired location and which span the space between the girders or girders and supporting-Walls. I provide these I- beams with a number of clips B, formed, preferably,of cast-iron and of the shape illustrated in Fig. 4. These clips have upwardly and inwardly projecting flange portions Z), that are arranged to grasp the flange portion of the I-beam. A web portion 19 connects the upper portion of the flanges and the side portions Z2 which are preferably arched inwardly and downwardly for the purposes hereinafter described. The lower portions of thisclip are joined together by means of a web b that is also extended to provide outer projecting flanges 19 The side portions of the clip are provided with what I term central ribs 6 arranged in snch'a manner as to leave side projecting portions at each side of the same. The use of this clip in connection with the supporting I-beams is as follows:

The clip is slipped onto the I-beam, either before the beam is put in position or afterward, by notching the I-beam, as at a, in Fig. 3, when the clips may all be put on one at a time. A number of channel-bars O are provided, which are bent to form the desired arch and which have their flange portions extending upwardly. Each end of the arched channel-bars is placed in engagement with and connects two clips across the space between the beams, (see Fig. 1,) the channel portion engaging with the central rib portions of the clip and their extreme lower ends contacting and resting on the lower projecting flange of trough shape, so as to be passed under from the upper portion of the clip around the lower portion of the same and connect with the lower portions of the arch metal lathing. I then fill in the space above this metal lat-hing with a concrete, formed, preferably, of cinders and cement, to a space slightly above the I-beam, about two inches, as shown to the right in Fig. 1. The upper portion of this concrete may be depressed or grooved and wood strips E laid therein, to which the ordinary wood flooring of the building may be secured. Vhen the cement has settled, it forms an arch in itself; but the channel-bars and metallic lath will be left there to receive the plastering. It will be observed, however, that the structural members are entirely surrounded by a fireproof material,which renders them in a m easure impervious to the action of temperature or moisture, thus prolonging their life and consequently the life of the building.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modified form of clip G, which is substantially the same as that shown in Fig. 4, with the exception that the central rib is left off, so that the curved or inwardly-extending side portions g are perfectly fiat, also the lower projecting flange g. In all other respects the clip is similar to the one shown in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a second modification of clip-viz., an adj ustable clip Hwhich is formed of two portions secured together at h, the upper portion being provided with slots or grooves 7L and the lower portion with projecting lugs 72/ The advantage of this clip is that it may be secured to any I-beam which forms a structural member of the building that is now in place or in use without indenting or slanting the same.

In use the arched channel-bars indicated in Fig. 1 may be made to span the members at h and rest against the portion 7% after the clips have been secured in position. I prefer to make the clips hollow, as indicated in Figs.

4; and 5, for the reason that the space 13 may be used as a conduit for pipes I or for electric wires, as desired. These clips (shown in Figs. t and 5) are further provided with elongated openings 12 so that bolts t' may be inserted after the clips are in position, their head portions resting against the shoulders 12 which prevents turning of the bolt during the tightening or loosening of nuts or collars.

Vhile I have described my invention with more or less minutcness as regards details and as being embodied in certain precise forms, I do not desire to be limited thereto unduly any more than is pointed out in the claims. On the contrary, I contemplate all proper changes in form, construction, and arrangement, the omission of immaterial parts, and the substitution of equivalents, as circumstances may suggest or render expedient.

I claim- 1. In a fireproof building, the combination of metal supporting I-beams, metal clips secured to the lower flanges of the I-beanis and provided with central side projecting ribs, channel-beams resting on, supported and positioned by the clips, metal lathing secured to the channel-bars and passed around a plane below the lower surface of the clips, and a filling of concrete on such metal lathing and surrounding the structural I-beams, substantially as described.

2. In a fireproof building, the combination with the structural members of a metal clip adapted to be secured thereto, and provided with side projecting ribs and lower projecting flanges, substantially as described.

3. In a fireproof building, the combination of metal supporting I-beams provided with one or more notched flanges, through and by which clips may be secured to or removed from the beams, metal clips removably secured to the flanges of the I-beams, and 1nechanism for connecting the clips together across the space between the structural I-beams, substantially as described.

4. In a fireproof building, the combination with the structural members of a metal clip adapted to be secured thereto and provided with inwardly-extending portions joined together at the top and bottom and lower projecting flanges, substantially as described.

FRANK B. ABBOTT.

\Vitnesses:

THOMAS 1 SHERIDAN, THOMAS E. MoGREcoR. 

